Last year, I sat down in Parliament with members of the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association, who were exposed to reckless levels of radiation during the years of nuclear testing.

And while I had read their stories in the Mirror for years, it was only when I talked to them that I truly realised the pain they had been through, especially when their children and grandchildren began to suffer health problems.

Like all veterans, they were proud to serve, but for them, it comes with a sense of dismay that successive governments have let them down so badly in response, denying them the compensation they deserve.

I want the next Labour government to be different. Because it is not just our role as a party to fight against the injustices we see today, but also to correct the injustices of the past.

And justice for these veterans cannot wait a second longer. We don’t need science to tell us what is right under our nose.

Emily Thornberry MP has campaigned for the nuclear test victims for a long time (
Image:
DAILY MIRROR)

Both the US and France have given large lump-sum payments to some of their own nuclear test veterans to help them and their families.

But I have agreed with Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn, our Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and our Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith that the next Labour government will go further.

We will give a £50,000 lump sum payment to every surviving test veteran to give them security and comfort in their old age.

And once we’re in government, we will also review war pensions to ensure the widows of servicemen who died as a result of their exposure to radiation are also supported as they should be.

Let me thank Susie Boniface, the Daily Mirror and its readers for fighting so hard and for so long to win justice for those brave servicemen.

Hopefully, we are one big step closer today.